From “Nation” to “State”: National Imagination, State Power, and Majoritarian Violence in Contemporary China

This book is a profound work that reveals the weaponization of Chinese "nationalism."
　　In an era where anti-Japanese and anti-American sentiments seem to evoke the spirit of the Boxer Rebellion,
　　When mainland China has been molded into a singular "Chinese nation,"
　　How can various ethnic groups live an unyielding life in a "Party-ruled" state?
　　Wang Ke, a renowned scholar of Chinese nationalism and now an emeritus professor at Kobe University in Japan, offers a thought-provoking answer in his latest work!

　　Since the 20th century, a fundamental means by which Chinese politics has manipulated the people is by creating and utilizing a mindset of "imagining the state from the 'nation'." By sanctifying the "nation," political power has been able to transform the people into tools obedient to the "state," even reducing them to slaves of the "state."

　　The reason the "nation" can be sanctified is often because it is "mythologized" as being beyond time and space. The banner of the "nation" can legitimize various actions. The reason for this lies in the unique path of state formation in modern China: modern China was imagined based on the "nation." From "expel the barbarians, restore China" in the late Qing Dynasty to the 21st century's call for the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" and the pursuit of "building a strong sense of community of the Chinese nation," the entire Han Chinese society has been structurally locked in the spell of the "imagining the state from the 'nation'" mindset.

　　However, according to this mindset, it is the "individual" who makes sacrifices, not the government, because the "individual" must submit to the interests of the "state" clad in the guise of the "nation." Therefore, the "imagining the state from the 'nation'" mindset often leads to totalitarian regimes. But this logic is undoubtedly anti-"modern."